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Challenges 2017

It’s always good to have challenges in life. I’ve always strived to achieve more than I am (at any one point) and it’s one of the things that has driven me over the years, especially having worked independently for most of my career. This year I thought I would document my 2017 challenges and see how I shape up over the course of the coming year. The term “shape up” might be more than appropriate for at least one of my efforts.

Physical

Lose 50lbs. There’s no doubting I need to lose weight and it’s been a constant battle for me. The excuses are the same as everyone else; busy lifestyle, too much work to do etc, and in reality in years gone by that could have been true. However working from home, I have no excuse. I have the kitchen on hand and can make anything I want. So, the challenge is to get to 50lbs less by the end of the year than I am now. It’s not a huge target, but more likely an achievable one.

Do 100 Gym visits. It doesn’t seem a lot, but getting to the gym regularly with an average of twice a week will help with the weight loss and increase overall fitness. The regularity is the key thing; keeping a constant twice weekly schedule.

Cycle 50 miles. This doesn’t mean 50 miles in total, but 50 miles in a single journey. I managed it before when I completed the London to Brighton race for charity. It’s time to get on the bike and do something again.

Personal

Learn Japanese. I love languages, but only managed to get to speak French (and obviously English) fluently. I can understand and do some Spanish and German too, but in reality not that much. Japanese fascinated me years ago; in 1988 I started an evening class but had to give it up as I started to work away. Let’s see what I can achieve 29 years later!

Cook more. I really enjoy cooking, including baking and trying food from around the world. This year I want to make more time to get focused on using even more basic ingredients, cutting out what little processed food we eat and generally trying out new ways to increase our vegetable/meat ratio.

Professional

Found a Startup. In 1998 I founded a music company and acted as the Technical Director (CTO nowadays). It was a great time, with lots of stress, but great opportunities to do creative things. This year I’m on the cusp of founding a new startup in the data management area. My professional goal for 2017 is to make this a success.

Build my Social Brand. I’ve been blogging since 2003, travelling to events since 2009, but not really focused hard on making my social brand a success. Although I can’t complain, there’s room for improvement and that’s the second half of my 2017 professional goals.

This doesn’t seem like many new or improved things, but of course underlying each one are specific separate tasks. I’m going to try and produce an update each week to talk about my progress. This will include talking about what was easy, what was hard and how I managed to achieve some these 2017 goals.